Book Launch: Degrowth in the Suburbs

Join us to launch Degrowth in the Suburbs: A Radical Urban Imaginary by Dr Samuel Alexander and Professor Brendan Gleeson.

This book addresses a central dilemma of the urban age: how to make suburban landscapes sustainable in the face of planetary ecological crisis. The authors argue that degrowth, a planned contraction of overgrown economies, is the most coherent paradigm for suburban renewal. They depart from the anti-suburban sentiment of much environmentalism to show that existing suburbia can be the centre-ground of transition to a new social dispensation based on the principle of enlightened material and energy restraint.

This book will be launched by David Holmgren, co-originator of the permaculture concept, followed by a few words from the authors.

About the authors

Dr Samuel Alexander is a Research Fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and a lecturer with the Office for Environmental Programs. He teaches a course called ‘Consumerism and the Growth Economy: Critical Interdisciplinary Perspectives’ as part of the Master of Environment. Dr Alexander’s interdisciplinary research focuses on post-growth economics, voluntary simplicity, ‘grassroots’ theories of transition, and the relationship between culture and political economy.

Professor Brendan Gleeson is the Director of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne. Professor Gleeson has made significant scholarly contributions in urban and social policy, environmental theory and policy, and is a regular commentator in newspapers, television and radio. He has qualifications in geography and urban planning, including a Masters degree from the University of Southern California and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. Professor Gleeson is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.